Monday, December 5, 2016

This week has been extremely long. After I got transferred,
I had to stay with another missionary for a couple of days until we both got
our trainees. It was actually Elder Fisk that I was a companion with in the
MTC. And he is serving in the Salem 2nd ward, which is where Chris' companion
Sam Bybee grew up. I had a chance to go to their home and meet them!

With the Bybees

Since then, it has been a very long week. Training and coming
into a new area at the same time has provided some unique challenges. This week
we spent a lot of time trying to meet the members, build relationships with
them, and gain their trust. This upcoming week we will hopefully be able to
start finding some people to teach. There weren't many people being taught in
the area when we got out here, but we know that there are people that are ready
to hear, it is just our responsibility to find them.

Elder Pinkston is from Draper, Ut. He grew up in Seattle for
most of his life though, so he is pretty used to this type of weather. He is
excited to be serving so I am looking forward to serving with him. I am
grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to train. Hopefully I will be
able to do all that He needs from me.

With Elder Pinkston

The area is very nice. It is definitely more rural, but I
like that. We actually inherited a car that was over 50,000 miles, so we get to
get a new Chevy Malibu 2016 this week! I was invited to go to Newburg for a
Missionary Leadership Council on Thursday, so I am going to switch out our
Chevy Cruze for a new Malibu, which will be sweet.

Elder Hala'eua is still in madras as the District Leader
there. It is weird, because I definitely miss him, but I think that he and I
both grew as missionaries and disciples of Christ as we were together, so I am
glad that we had the opportunity to serve together.

With Elder Hala'eua

The First Counselor in our ward who we ate with
last night lived with his wife and family in Phoenix for three years right
around the building and dedication of the temple. They actually went to that
church building right there. Its crazy how it is such a small world.

My
studying is going well. The chapters in Mosiah that King Benjamin is talking are some of my favorites because there is so much in there that is helpful to us today. I am in Helaman chapter 2. I just read about the
Lamanites attacking the Nephites and taking over the city of Zarahemla and it
was because all of the chaos in the lives of the Nephites were distracting them
from protecting and securing their city. That is so true for us today. The
adversary won't wait to attack when times are most convenient to us and we are
most prepared. We must constantly be preparing ourselves to face that
opposition and press forward. Distraction is one of the adversaries biggest
tools because it pulls us away from staying focused on Christ. We have to make
sure that we are always putting Christ first so that those distractions don't
lead us astray or vulnerable to opposition.